'A shining example': West Leyden teacher among 10 finalists for state award

Pioneer Press

West Leyden teacher Valarie Berger is one of 10 finalists for the 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year Award.

West Leyden teacher Valarie Berger is one of 10 finalists for the 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year Award. (Pioneer Press)

Pioneer PressStaff Report

West Leyden High School teacher Valarie Berger took time out from her job Aug. 29 to discuss her reaction to being nominated for the Illinois Teacher of the Year award.

But Berger, a family and consumer science teacher, had a few other things on her plate.

"Like tomorrow, we have to bake about 200 cinnamon rolls, so I'm going to get here a little early, so when the kids get here the first batch is ready to come out of the oven," she told her interviewer. "It's a breakfast for AP (Advanced Placement) students, so it's a quick grab and go: so they're getting cinnamon rolls, a yogurt parfait and orange juice."

Berger, instrumental in the expansion of the school's culinary arts program, learned recently she was one of the 10 finalists chosen out of a field of 234 nominees for the Illinois Teacher of the Year award. The recognition is given through the Those Who Excel program, which is facilitated by the Illinois State Board of Education.

"The Leyden family is incredibly proud of Mrs. Berger," said District 212 Superintendent Nick Polyak. "She would never seek this recognition. However, I cannot think of a more deserving teacher, and she is a shining example of everything that is great about public education."

Berger said she was told last May by the administration that she had been nominated for the award, "and I was incredibly touched. There are so many people that work together on every single project, and just about every teacher here is worthy of this nomination. So it means a great deal."

She joined Leyden in August 1985 after graduating from Northern Illinois University with a major in family and consumer education and a minor in mathematics.

"I applied for the job. It was my first interview, and as a college graduate you're so excited to get a job offer. I took it," she said. "This was my only job interview. I was blessed — I hit the jackpot."

When she started at Leyden, the school was still under the old home economics model, geared for cooking at home. Now with the shift to culinary, it has become a commercial program.

Berger leads a variety of classes, including culinary basics, pastry chef, cake decorating, cuisine chef, advanced catering and advanced catering independent study, the school said in its release announcing the award.

Students in the culinary program obtain a food handling license and food service sanitation manager certification, the release said. They learn to create menus, prepare food and cater events, including one for as many as 800 people. A coffee bar hosted by students during the school year raises thousands of dollars for various charities while teaching students how to manage a business from inventory to marketing and accounting, the school said.

At the first coffee bar, 17 or 18 years ago, "we made 40 little muffins," Berger recalled. " We had a home espresso machine, and we put it on a desk at the end of the hall. And when we opened, we didn't know if people would like it, and the line was around the school. It just kept expanding, expanding and expanding, and now it's part of our culture."

Because of the close-knit nature of the culinary program, Berger has also played a role in addressing students' personal needs, mustering school support.

In culinary, "we're all in the trenches together. I think you have to meet people where they are, and some of these students ... needed some of the basics taken care of before they can even worry about school," she said. "Like food, shelter. Last year, I had three students lose a parent. I never had that in my 33 years."

She said the Leyden community has rallied around such causes, working last year to find housing for a student after his family was evicted on the coldest day of winter.

"I've always believed it takes a village, and it starts at the top — it's grassroots, but we meet at the middle somewhere," she said. "But even with all the stuff that I've been part of here, I didn't do any of it by myself. It all was a team — whether it was curriculum, there's a team. If it was helping a student in need, there was a team of us helping that student. Everything has been a collection of people working together for the greater good."

The 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year award will be announced the Those Who Excell Banquet scheduled for Oct. 28 at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Normal.